Fabric of America: Mississippi River Distilling Co. in LeClaire, Iowa

In case you didn’t already know, we have intimate experience with and a great love for the distilled spirit.

When we stopped in the Quad Cities (on the Iowa-Illinois border) for a few days at the beginning of our “Fabric of America” tour, we got to spend some time with my Uncle Clark. Clark’s a guy you listen to, as evidenced by this photo.

Clark told us about a distillery that had opened up the river from Davenport, Iowa, in the town of LeClaire.

While I know the city as a small riverside town north of the Quad Cities that felt like days away when we were teenagers, you’ll know it for other reasons. LeClaire is the home of Antique Archaeology, from the TV show American Pickers.

Alas, this post isn’t about Antique Archaeology. This post is about Mississippi River Distilling Company. Reference points noted, let’s get it on.

We planned on visiting MRDC while in LeClaire, the downtown of which has been entirely renovated since I last visited in the 1990s. After walking around downtown for a bit, we were just about to hop in the car to find MRDC when we realized we were already parked directly in front of it. Go figure. We’ll blame the sun for not noticing it, since it was blazingly hot and bright on said day.

Seeing that all who come are welcome, we popped inside to check out the place. It’s a small building with stills in the back, a gift shop and store up front, and a tasting room off to the side – all set along the glory of the Mighty Mississippi.

We were greeted by a nice lady whose name now escapes me, which is a shame and quite tacky. Nonetheless, she answered our instant barrage of questions before asking why we were asking so many questions. This was, after all, an unscheduled story for the Fabric of America, and we were really just being our curious selves.

After she found out what it is we do, she went and grabbed one of the owners. Meet Ryan Burchett.

He and his brother, Garrett, started the distillery in 2010 out of nothing but eagerness to make a quality drink. Ryan was actually a meteorologist in the Quad Cities, and Garrett was an engineer. Their drive, desire, and love of drink had them quit their day jobs to take the liquor business by the horns and get to work.

After training in the U.S. and going all the way to Germany for some real hands-on experience with their equipment makers, Ryan, Garrett, and no doubt a ton of their family and friends, got to work producing their first product.

Using local ingredients – everything is sourced from no more than a 25-mile radius of the distillery – and endless hours of tinkering and hustle, they began doing what they now do best. And then they did it again. And again. And again.

Only three years later, the folks at MRDC have a handful of awards to go along with their small-batch vodka, gin, bourbon, and rye whiskey. They also have four seasonals, three of which are so popular that they end up making the same seasonal, three times a year, year to year.

I should also mention that they have another spirit called River Baron. Because it doesn’t fit all the criteria for vodka or other spirits, they were supposed to call it an “alcohol distilled from grain.” Not very catchy, right?

Laws being laws, they had to put that somewhere on the bottle, but were fortunately allowed to call it an “artisan spirit” in the title. Due to our affinity for “artisan spirits” of the rakija persuasion, this one caught our eye just a bit more than all the others.

It’s a mix of different grains, distilled to be clean with notes of the local crops that went into its making. Ice cold and straight out of the freezer, it hit our palettes just right and makes an excellent sip – straight with no mixer.

Going back to the friends and family tradition of their operation, it was great to see the bottling station for all the spirits. Every time a new batch is ready, the guys have a bottling party where supporters and kin get together for an evening and bottle the product. Here’s the bottling station…

While it’s obviously hard work and very, very long hours, it’s clear that the Burchett’s dedication has gotten them quite far in a very short time. While it can take much, much longer to put such an operation together, we think they’ve put together a very high-quality product and haven’t allowed for laziness in any facet of their business.

As noted before, all ingredients are local. They don’t cut any corners – as so many distilleries do – by buying pre-processed product or relabeling anything for their own use. All grain is sorted, cleaned, milled, cooked, distilled, and bottled on-site.

Not only does it allow for a hands-on approach that keeps quality control at a finger’s length; it also shows a true commitment to the craft of each bottle Ryan, Garrett, and the MRDC team produce.

While we were merely walk-ins to this operation and had no appointment of any kind, we’re honored that Ryan took the time to speak with us about his passion, the distillery, and the product. Mississippi River Distilling Company is proof that the American Dream still exists.

In this case, it’s by revisiting a centuries-old tradition and reviving it in the 21st century with friends, family, and endless amounts of hard work. And even though these guys surely get stressed from time to time, you can tell they love every minute they put into their business and they have every right to be proud of what they do and the accolades they’ve received.

Mississippi River Distilling Company is a part of the Fabric of America. No doubt about that.

Mississippi River Distilling Co. is located here:

303 N. Cody Rd.
Le Claire, IA 52753
Tel: +1 (563) 484-4342
Web: mrdistilling.com

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Have you ever tried any of MRDC’s products? Have you heard of them before? Any other thoughts? We’d love to hear from you in the comments!